StillSmart

Due to health reasons I have not managed to get much done in the shed recently, but things are on the up and I have managed to get a few hours work done in the last couple of days.

I have this notion about making a valve that will allow me to run the still in either Liquid Management (LM) or Vapour Management (VM) configurations with the addition of being able to use it as a potstill without reassembling the column.

This is the outline of my idea, maybe it is not my idea, maybe I saw it somewhere else and have forgotten. Either way this is what I am trying to accomplish.



I started off by making the diverter piece and the horizontal tube that holds it in place.

For use as a Pot Still the slider would be cut off the supply of vapour to the reflux coil.



In Liquid management Mode all the vapour would be directed to the reflux coil



For Vapour Mangement the vapour will be split with a proportion of the vapour going to the reflux coil and the remainder being directed through the Leiberg product condenser.





Lots of work still to do, and this will probably be a slow thread.

Any comments appreciated, especially as to how I can get the sliding piece to move while the still is operational.

I managed a couple more hours and fitted the cross tube into the column.



I was quite chuffed with the fit up, nice and neat.



I will need to seal the two "d" shaped gaps to the left and right of the cross tube, that should be fun, they are 8" down inside the column tube.

No prob reaching them Brian. just cut off the cross tube above the 'D' shaped gaps and solder in the pieced to cover them then solder the cross tube back together again easy-peasy!

What would you do without me?

AM

That is my emergency stand-by fall-back option but without the resoldering, if I need to cut the tube I would use a slip joint and a mini-muffin mould seal.

Thinking about it, this would also save me having to install new slant plates, I could cut the existing column below the old slant plates and put the slipjoint there.

You are right, what would I do without you.

Toodlepip

I managed to get a couple of hours in the shed yesterday.

I did not need the fall back option and was able to solder in the seal plates. The first one was easy but fell out when I tried to solder the second one.

Eventually wired them in position and soldered them both at the same time at the third attempt.



I soldered the column to the cross piece and added the flange that will eventually close the whole thing up.




I am limited for space in my shed, if I used the traditional horizontal sloping lieberg then I would have to duck or practice limbo dancing every time I wanted to move. So I opted for a dimpled, vertical, lieberg as posted by Ant.





Dimpling the inner core of the condenser should limit the possibility of any vapour falling out the bottom of it without touching a cold surface. It should also add turbulence and increase the retention time to the cooling water. It is 1m long and 22mm over 15mm.



This weeks task is to sort out an actuator of some kind.

I transfered the slant plates and the needle valve for the LM side of things from my original head.



Click pictures for a bigger view.



Still waiting for a stainless rod/bolt to arrive that I will be using as a push/pull type actuator, a couple of thermometer ports to add and it is just about there.

The first capital expenditure of this build arrived - a long stainless bolt. £1.04 + £2.50 P&P.

The bolt is from a cycle shop and they used to use them to connect the handle bars to the head. Tried in vain at the local shops - old fashioned, had to go postal. £2.50 Bah

I fitted the bolt and made a stuffing gland out of another of my wife's biscuit sheets.



Push the bolt in and the vapour goes up to the LM head (Bokakob)



Pull the bolt out the reflux is isolated and the vapour is directed to the the lieberg (Pot Still)



Half way and the VM cuts in with some vapour being refluxed and some heading off to the lieberg. Moving the piston had a very nice, progressive effect on the reflux ratio.



It's all looking very promising, so I will order the other bits that I need, basically a 42/22 reducer, and then I can start the final assembly.

Brian, you should, at the very least, patent that design. That head has great commercial potential. A three-in-one still head If you fitted a standard SS ferrule to the bottom it could be fitted to any column with a similar ferrule using a tri-clamp.

There's money in that there copper

Brilliant design and workmanship.

AM

Stainless Steel Ferrule + tri clamps = too expensive.

I will stick to my mini muffin mould seals 12 for £1.00.

I ordered the 42/22 reducer from JTM plumbing yesterday morning, got a confirmation that the order had been dispatched yesterday afternoon. It arrived first post today. Very impressed with the service.

The item cost £2.50 the P&P was £5.00

The post office is the only one making money out of this build.

Nice stuff Brian.
I have no trouble with a vertical product condenser on my still, it knock it all down.
I'm not sure how you are going to run it in VM mode? Pot and LM mode is pretty clear cut, I'm not sure how you are going to manage output from the 2 condenser's? Each will recieve a share of vapor, if I understand correctly.
I'm sure I've missed a trick somewhere.

In VM mode the reflux ratio and therefore the strength of the distillate is proportional to the quantities of vapour that each condenser receives.

A high percentage of vapour travelling up to the reflux condenser with a minimal amount being bled off to the product condenser will result in the highest strength.

Contrarywise when a large amount of vapour is taken off as product there will be minimal reflux and hence a lower strength.

With the LM (Bokakob) the take off is very controlable and the heads can be taken off very slowly ensuring that the heads are compressed as much as possible. This will mean that the quantity of hearts available will be maximised. The hearts will be removed by the VM system, which I am reliably informed will hold back the tails longer thus once again maximising the quantity of hearts that can be harvested.

I hope all this sounds convincing as I am still very new to the VM concept and may well be talking absolute twaddle, where is Capt'n C when you need him?

Thanks for that, it's all a lot clearer to me now.

The force is definitely with you

AM

Very nice YHB, true engineering.